Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Why are you making that face?

Assigning a guided writing activity in class is a painful task. The faces they make and their sighs, the "I hate it" attitude towards the assignment is something dreadful. As if I am dragging them to be hanged. Despite of the pain and the ugly faces, the task is accomplished and for my surprise, some of them do a pretty good job. Although it is a guided task, some are creative enough to add new ideas to their pieces of writing, keeping the flow. I am proud of some and worried about others. A mixture of feelings that I believe every teacher goes through one day or another.

1 comment:

I agree 100% percent that what you describe above is " . . . a mixture of feelings that I believe every teacher goes through one day or another." I know that I had that experience countless times in my own classes.

I think we as teachers need to remember three key points if we want to deal with the frustration that often results when guided writing activities are assigned:

1. Don't forget that it's highly unlikely that everyone will be motivated and involved in such activities: most of the time some will, but for others it will be like undergoing torture.

2. Don't forget to move around and encourage and/or sympathize with students as they work: this can make a world of difference.

3. Always remember that "tomorrow is another day" and that even if practice doesn't necessarily make perfect, it certainly makes one improve!

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The Write Path

“Many of us have an unfortunate tendency to rely on the textbook to teach the subject.Don’t rely on workbook exercises to teach young people how to write effectively, or you are likely to be disappointed. Writing needs to be an interactive, shared process. That will not happen unless we make development of writing skills a priority in junior and senior high children. This means that we take extra time and seek out the resources and assistance we need to make that happen"(Cathy Duffy)